USU Ag Education Student Receives National Student Teaching Scholarship

Utah State University students who find success both in and out of the classroom are the norm on campus, and agriculture systems education student Sara Vandenbos is no exception. Vandenbos was awarded the National Association of Agricultural Educators Upper Division Agricultural Education Scholarship sponsored by Delmar Cengage Learning. Only 15 scholarships are awarded nationally each year to institutions that include Purdue, Cal Poly, Iowa State and the Ohio State.

The NAAE is a federation of state agricultural educators associations with more than 7,650 members that focuses on advocacy for agricultural education, professional development for agricultural educators and recruitment and retention of current agriculture educators. To be eligible for the NAAE scholarship, applicants must be an agricultural education major with intentions of becoming an agriculture teacher and who will complete student teaching within the year. Delmar Cengage Learning works with proprietary career colleges, community colleges and universities to change the way that products and services are developed and delivered for education and training.

“I can’t really pinpoint one reason that I was chosen for this award — in my opinion I’m just your average girl next door,” Vandenbos said. “However, the scholarship was based on GPA, leadership and service involvement, recommendation letters, essays, a professional resume and intent after graduation. Ultimately I think I received this award based on my studies here at Utah State University. My time at USU prepared me for my future profession in a way that I think most universities do not pay attention towards anymore.”

Vandenbos will student teach in Virginia during the spring 2010 semester, where she will join her husband, Paul, who is stationed there with the military. She will teach high school students in agriculture subjects, including agricultural welding, biology, zoology, horticulture, leadership development/speech, woodworking, agricultural economics and floriculture.

“I feel prepared to walk into that classroom and assume the role of the teacher for 13 weeks in the spring,” Vandenbos said. “Of course, I have my anxieties of what my class of students will be like. Will I connect with them? How will I deal with problems in the classroom? But that is why we place future educators in the class student teaching next to an accomplished teacher.”

Vandenbos said USU has given her the necessary foundation and tools to go out and student teach. From animal science to welding, she has learned not only the subject material, but also how to teach it to 30-plus students.

“I want to be an ag educator because America is losing its appreciation of its ag roots,” Vandenbos said. “We laugh about a saying commonly heard in ag circles, ‘Naked and Hungry — that’s where you would be without agriculture.’ However, it is such a true saying and people do not realize there are so many careers in agriculture and it isn’t just sows, cows and plows anymore. Agriculture is taking on a more technological feel, and it will be interesting to see what new careers will arise in the next 10 years. What better way to show students the importance of agriculture in their lives and future then to teach them while they are in high school when they stand on the threshold of their adult life.”

Vandenbos said USU has opened her eyes to so many things she never thought possible and has given her opportunities she never dreamed. In the summer of 2009, she was chosen as one of 12 students in the nation selected to go to China and Vietnam on an international trade and agricultural mission with the U.S. Grains Council. She said her advisors and professors deserve much of the credit for her success in school since they are the ones who helped lay the foundation for her career.

“Sara is an outstanding student and will be a highly effective teacher of agriculture,” said Brian Warnick, assistant professor of agriculture systems technology and education. “She will undoubtedly make a positive difference the lives of students as she enters the profession. She is well deserving of this recognition and is a great example of the outstanding students in the agricultural education program at Utah State University. This is a highly competitive scholarship program and it is the first time in many years a USU student has been awarded the scholarship.”

Vandenbos began her college education at the University of Idaho and after deciding it wasn’t for her, checked into other schools in the West that offered agricultural education programs. After visiting USU, she said she was automatically treated like a long-lost friend in the Agricultural Systems Technology and Education Department by Warnick and fellow ASTE faculty member Rudy Tarpley. She said they took time out of their spring schedule to show her around the department, rode on the shuttle with her to the TSC and gave her a tour of campus.

“I feel honored to be selected from the class of 2009-2010 agricultural education majors as a recipient of the NAAE Upper Division Scholarship,” said Vandenbos. “My first reaction was of awe and astonishment that I was chosen out of such a large group of astonishing future educators. At USU alone we have so many aspiring agricultural education majors that deserve this award. It is humbling to think only 15 students in the nation are chosen.”

Vandenbos is from Meridian, Idaho, and served as the Idaho FFA Association president in 2006-2007. She has served as vice president of Alpha Tau Alpha and as president of the USU Collegiate FFA chapter. She is currently working as the Connections Student Coordinator in the USU Office of Retention and First Year Experience.

To learn more about USU’s Agriculture Systems Technology and Education Department, visit the Web site.